High altitude breaking apparatus for fire fighting

ABSTRACT

There is provided a novel high altitude breaking apparatus for fire fighting comprising a high altitude working vehicle for fire fighting having a breaking spear slidably mounted for stick-out and retraction on the tower top of said vehicle the arrangement being such that the tower top is brought close to a closed glass wall of a burning building with the breaking spear held in its retracted position and the breaking spear is forcefully stuck out from within its shooting range by the action of spring force to smash the glass wall to provide for spraying water into the room to extinguish the fire and for the rescue of the persons shut up in the room. The breaking spear is mounted for angle adjustment on the tower top so that it can be directed at right angles to the glass wall to ensure that the spear will positively and accurately break the glass wall. Further, the breaking spear is safely remotely controlled from the vehicle. Other merits and details of the construction will appear as the description proceeds.

United States Patent [191 Terayama June 28, 1974 HIGH ALTITUDE BREAKING APPARATUS FOR FIRE FIGHTING [75] Inventor: Fusaji Terayama, Osaka, Japan 73]. Assignee: Morita Fire Pump Mfg. Co., Ltd.,

Osaka, Japan [221' Filed: Apr. 9, 1973 21] Appl. No.: 349,482

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 18, 1972 Japan ..47-39408 i 11972-"..JEEQELLLLL':"t"'1:13;:'.-;:.47T7

[52] US. Cl 169/25, 124/26, 299/70, 239/271 [51] Int. Cl. A62c 27/00 [58] Field of Search 124/26, 27; 81/5235; 173/119; 169/25; 239/271; 299/69, 70; 125/40 [56] References Cited v UNITED STATES PATENTS 838,469 12/1906 Sickman 299/69 X 1,009,553 11/1911 Neuman 124/26 X 1,017,017 2/1912 Powell 299/70 1,468,998 9/1923 Dolan 169/25 1,727,812 9/1929 David.. 124/26 X 2,008,817 7/1935 Cartlidge 299/69 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATlONS 587,639 5/1947 Great Britain 239/271 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-John J. Love Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hall & Houghton [5 7] ABSTRACT There is provided a novel high altitude breaking apparatus for fire fighting comprising a high altitude working vehicle for fire fighting having a breaking spear slidably mounted for stick-out and retraction on the tower top of said vehicle the arrangement being such that the tower top is brought close to a closed glass wall of a burning building with the breaking spear held in its retracted position and the breaking spear is forcefully stuck out from within its shooting range by the action of spring force to smash the glass wall to provide for spraying water into the room to extinguish the fire and for the rescue of the. persons shut up in the room. The breaking spear is mounted for angle adjustment on the tower top so that it can be directed at right angles to the glass wall to ensure that the spear will positively and accurately break the glass wall. F urther, the breaking spear is safely remotely controlled from the vehicle. Other merits and details of the construction will appear as the description proceeds 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEHauuea I974 SHEET 1 [IF 3 RN k, M mm wa m HIGH ALTITUDE BREAKING APPARATUS FOR FIRE FIGHTING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high altitude breaking apparatus for fire fighting which is adapted to be mounted on an expansible type water-spraying tower fire fighting vehicle provided with a water spraying nozzle or basket or a foldable ladder type fire fighting vehicle, whereby galss walls, mortar walls, board walls, etc. of a building can be safely and quickly broken from outside to provide for the extinguishment of a building fire and the rescue of persons.

2. Description of the prior art When the tower top of an expansible type water spraying tower vehicle or foldable type ladder vehicle is brought close to and laterally outwardly of an exterior glass wall of a high-storied building to break part of said unopenable glass wall to use theresulting broken area as a breakthrough opening through which to spray water or rescue the persons shut up in the room, the usual practice has been either to hit the strong portion of the tower top against the glass wall by tilting and revolving the tower or for an operator in a bucket on the tower top to use a hammer or the like tosmash the glass wall. However, since such glass wall is strongly I built, it is not easy to break it, requiring much time in the operation and there is danger that it is too late for fire fighting or relief work.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to provide a novel high altitude breaking apparatus for fire fighting characterized by comprising a breaking spear of predetermined length slidably mounted for stick-out and retraction on a gun platform, compression spring loaded breaking means provided with a breaking spear shoot ing spring and tiltably and revolvably mounted on the tower top, said gun platform being adapted to be remotely controlled from a safe location on the vehicle to change the vertical and horizontal position thereof so that the breaking spear is directed at right angles to a glass wall to be broken. Thus, the spear, in its retracted position with the breaking tool on the front end positioned within the shooting range, is percussively stuck out a predetermined distance to positively and accurately break through the target point in the glass wall at a single shot. I

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention:

FIG. I is a side view, partly in longitudinal section, of the tower top of a high altitude working vehicle provided with an apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of said tower top;

FIG. 3 shows hydraulic piping and electric wiring for the apparatus; and FIGS. 4-l, -II and --III are views explanatory of the operation of a breaking spear;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, bearings 2, 2 are attached to the opposite lateral sides of the tower top 1 and a transverse shaft 3 is journaled in said bearings in such a manner that it sticks out through the bearings laterally in opposite directions. One end projection of the transverse shaft 3 is fitted in the leg plate portion 4a of a tiltable table 4 which is pivotally mounted parallelly on one lateral side of the tower top so that it can be tilted. Tilting means A for the tiltable table 4 is provided in the following manner. Thus, an attachment table 5 is attached to the other lateral side of the tower top 1, and an oil motor 6 anda speed reducer 7 are mounted on said attachment table, the motor shaft 8 and speed reducer input shaft 9 being interconnected by a coupling 10. The projecting portion of the transverse shaft 3 on the side of the tilting means A is connected to the speed reducer output shaft 11 by chain transmission means. The numerals l2 and 13 designate sprockets and 14 designates and endless chain. The tiltable table 4 is so designed that when it is paralled to the tower top, the table top surface is slightly above the level of the upper lateral surface of the tower top. A revolvable table 15 is revolvably supported on said tiltable table in the following manner. Thus, a vertical shaft 16 projects upwardly from the upper surface of the mount on the tiltable table, and a shaft sleeve 17 projecting from the central region of the lower surface of the revolvable table 15 is rotatably fitted over said vertical shaft. A th4ust bearing 18 is interposed between the front end of the shaft sleeve 17 and the tiltable table 4. The front end of the vertical shaft 16 extends through the shaft sleeve 17 and a slip-off preventive plate 19 for the shaft sleeve is attached thereto. Revolving means B for the revolvable table 15 is provided in the following manner. Thus, a pinion 20 is fitted over the outer peripheral surface of the shaft sleeve 17. A hydraulic cylinder 21 is horizontally fixed on the rear portion of the tiltable table 4, while a rack 22 is fixed on the piston rod end of said hydraulic cylinder and meshes with the pinion 26. The numeral 23 designates a small hydraulic cylinder for locking the revolvable table 15, said cylinder 23 being erected on the front end portion of the tiltable table 4. Breaking means C of the following construction is mounted on the revolvable table 15. Thus, a straight cylindrical gun platform 24 is horizontally parallelly fixed on the revolvable table 15. The length of the gun platform 24 is about twice the distance from the vertical shaft 16 to the front end of the tower. Frames 240 on the opposite sides of the lower surface at the intermediate portion of the gun platform is fixedly supported on supports on the revolvable table 15. A long straight bar-like breaking spear 25 is longitudinally inserted in the gun platform 24 with the front portion of the breaking spear slidably journaled in a fixed bearing member 26 at the front end of the gun platform and with the rear portion slidably journaled in a movable bearing member 27 fitted in the rear portion of the gun platform. A breaking tool 28 which is pointed and which has a plate of large diameter at the base is mounted on the front end of the breaking spear. The movable bearing member 27 is longitudinally slidably supported in that it is provided with lugs 270 at the lower end on opposite sides which are fitted in longitudinally extending guide slots 24b formed in the frames 24a on the opposite sides of the lower surface of the gun platform 24. A retainer 29 of large diameter is provided at a place spaced about one third of the overall length of the breaking spear 25 away from the front end thereof and a shooting spring 30 in the form of a coiled-spring is mounted on the breaking spear 25 between said retainer and movable bearing member 27. A spring compressing and breaking spear retracting hydraulic cylinder 31 is received and fixed in position between the frames 24a on the opposite sides of the lower surface at the intermediate portion of the gun platform 24 and the rearwardly extending end of the piston rod 32 is connected to the central portion of the lower end of the movable bearing member 27, thereby constituting shooting resilient force imparting and breaking spear retracting means D. In addition, a stop 33 cooperating with the movable bearing member 27 is provided on the rear end of the breaking spear 25 and a buffer spring 34 is mounted on the breaking spear 25 therebetween. Gun bar retaining means E is provided on the gun platform 24 in the following manner. Thus, at a place spaced about one third away from the front end of the gun platform 24 and on the upper surface plate, a retainer pawl 35 is orthogonally pivoted on a pivot member 36, and the pawl front is projected into the gun platform 24 through an opening in the upper surface plate to retain it on the front surface of the gun bar retainer 29. A shooting hydraulic cylinder 37 is provided rearwardly of the retaining pawl 35 and the piston rod 38 thereof is stuck out toward the outer end of the retaining pawl 35 by means of a contained spring 39, thereby retaining it in an urged abutted manner. The aforesaid spring compressing and breaking spear retracting hydraulic cylinder 31, revolving hydraulic cylinder 21, shooting hydraulic cylinder 37, locking small cylinder 23 and tilting oil motor 6 have their respective solenoid valves located at suitable places on the tower top 1, and, as shown in FIG. 3, solenoid valves 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 are connected to the corresponding cylinders through pipe lines 45, 46; 47, 48; 49; 50; and 51, 52, respectively. Pipe lines 55 and 56 extend from an oil pump 53 and oil tank 54 already installed on the vehicle along the tower and they are connected to the respective solenoid valves through pipe lines 57, 58; 59, 60; 61; 62; and 63, 64, respectively. The remote-control operation panel is provided with a spring compressing and gun bar retracting switch 65, revolving switch 66, shooting switch 67, locking switch 68 and tilting switch 69, said switches being electrically connected to the respective solenoid valves as shown in dash-dot lines. In addition, in order to avoid troubles, flexible hoses or the like are incorporated in said pipe lines leading to the respective cylinders on the tiltable table 4 and revolvable table operable with respect to the tower top 1. The outline of the action and remote control of the breaking spear will now be described. FIG. 4-(1) shows the retracted rest position with the piston rod 32 of the cylinder 31 extended. In use, the cylinder 31 is retracted to shift the movable bearing member 27 along the breaking spear 25 toward the retainer 29 and thereby compress the spring 30 interposed therebetween, as shown in FIG. 4-(ll). In addition, the forward movement of the breaking spear 25 is checked by the preset resilience of the spring 37 contained in the piston rear chamber of the shooting hydraulic cylinder 37. In this spring compressed state, an oil pressure is fed into the piston front chamber of the cylinder 37 to retract the piston rod 38 against the force of the spring 39, as shown in FIG. 4- ([11). Thereupon, the snapping force of the spring 30 causes the breaking spear 25 to move forwardly, clearing and rotating the retaining pawl 35, so that the breaking spear 25 forcefully sticks out outwardly of the fixed bearing member 26 through a distance corresponding to the stroke length of the cylinder 31. In addition, before the retainer 29 hits the bearing member 26, the buffer spring 34 abuts against the movable bearing member 27 to stop the forward movement, so that the breaking spear 25 stops at a suitable position because of the front extended spring 30. When the cylinder 31 is extended to its original position, the breaking spear 25 is retracted by the movable bearing member 27, as shown in FIG. 4-(1). At the end of this operation, the retainer 29 is moved turning the retaining pawl 35 counterclockwise around the pivot axis and is thereby positioned behind the rear surface thereof to assume the original position. The above operation is effected under remote control from the vehicle. That is, at the time of spring compression, a compressing and breaking switch 65 is turned to the compression side, whereupon the solenoid valve 40 is actuated to establish connection between the pipe lines 57, 46 and 45, 58, so that high pressure oil from the oil pump 53 is pumped into the piston front chamber of the cylinder 31, while the oil in the piston rear chamber returns to the oil tank 54. When said switch 65 is turned to the retraction side, the solenoid valve 40 is actuated to establish connection between the pipe lines 57, 45 and 46, 58 thereby extending the cylinder 31. When said switch 65 is brought to its neutral position, the solenoid valve 40 is operated to disconnect the pipe lines 57, 58, 45 and 46. At the time of shooting, when the shooting switch 67 is closed, the solenoid valve 42 is actuated to interconnect the pipe lines 61 and 49, so that high pressure oil from the oil pump 53 is pumped into the piston front chamber of the small cylinder 37. When said switch 67 is opened, the solenoid valve 42 is deenergized to disconnect the pipe lines 61 and 49 from each other. With the forward movement of the piston of the small cylinder 37 by the action of the spring 39, the oil in the piston front chamber of the small cylinder is discharged through the solenoid valve 42 to a suitable place or returns to the oil tank. The outline of the action and remote control of the tiltable table 4 will now be described. When the tilting switch 69 on the vehicle is brought to the erection side, the solenoid valve 44 is actuated to establish connection between the pipe lines 63, 52 and 51, 64, so that the tilting oil motor 6 is rotated. This rotation is reduced in speed by the speed reducer 7 and transmitted to the transverse shaft 3, so that the tiltable table 4 is erection-rotated around the axis of said shaft. When said switch is turned to its neutral position during this erecting operation, the solenoid valve 44 is deenergized to stop the oil motor 6, so that the tiltable table 4 is stopped at any desired erection angle, which is maintained. When said switch 69 is turned to the prostration side, the solenoid valve 44 is operated to establish connection between the pipe lines 63, 51 and 52, 64, so that the oil motor is reversely rotated to cause the prostration rotation of the tiltable table 4. The outline of the action and remote control of the revolvable table 15 will now be described. When the revolving switch 66 is turned for counterclockwise revolution, the solenoid valve 41 is operated to establish connection between the pipe lines 59, 47 and 48, 60, so that the revolving hydraulic cylinder 21 makes an extension movement. And the rack 22 moves forwardly, the pinion 20 is rotated and the revolvable table 15 is rotated counterclockwise around the axis of the vertical shaft 16. When the switch 66 is brought to its neutral position during revolution, the solenoid valve 41 is deenergized to become neutral, so that the cylinder 21 is stopped at any desired degree of extension to hold the revolvable table at the azimuth it takes. When the switch 66 is turned for clockwise revolution, the solenoid valve 41 is operated to establish connection between'the pipe lines 59, 48 and 47, 60 to retract the rack 22, so that the revolvable table 15 is revolved counterclockwise. The manner of using the present apparatus will now be described. Normally, the tiltable table 4 and revolvable table 15 are held parallel to the tower top 1 to decrease the bulk. In addition, the piston rod of the small locking hydraulic cylinder 23 is held extended by the spring contained in the piston rear chamber with the piston rod end pushed up and fitted in a recess in the from lower surface area of the revolvable table 15, thereby preventing the sway ofthe revolvable table. At the start of operation, with the breaking spear 25 held in its retracted position, the tower top 1 is brought close to a glass wall to be broken. The operator in the vehicle measures the angle between the tower top 1 and glass wall with the eye and remotely controls the tiltable table 4 on revolvable table 15. And the breaking tool 27 at the tower top is brought into the shooting range and the breaking spear 25 is then shot to stick out in the above manner, breaking the window glass. In addition, the shooting spring 30 may be interposed between the movable bearing member 27 and the stop 33, so that the retraction of the piston rod 32 causes said spring to extend so as to build up a shooting resilient force and the breaking spear 25 is then unlocked for shooting. Further, the shooting spring may be mounted on the spear between the fixed bearing member 26 and the breaking tool 28, where the retraction of the breaking spear stores a shooting resilient force for shooting the spear. As has been described so far, according to the present invention, since the tower top of a high altitude fire fighting vehicle such as an expansible type water spraying tower vehicle or foldable ladder type vehicle is equipped with a gun platform having a breaking spear of predetermined length slidably mounted thereon for stick-out and retraction, the tower top may be brought close to a window glass of a burning building and the breaking spear may be stuck out from within the shooting range to safely and quickly break the closed window glass, whereupon fire fighting work may be carried out by injecting a fire extinguishing liquid from the water spraying port of the tower top through the resulting break hole into the room or the basket at the tower top may be brought close to the break hole to rescue the persons in the room. Further, because of the spring compression type shooting system comprising a shooting spring disposed between the breaking spear and gun platform, shooting resilient force imparting and breaking spear retracting means and breaking spear retaining means, it is possible to obtain a strong percussive breaking force. Therefore, mortar walls and board walls as well as strong glass walls of a building may be smashed, if necessary, for fire fighting and relief work. Further, because of the spring compression type shooting system, the percussive reaction is absorbed by the spring, not directly transmitted to the gun platform, so

that there will be no damage to the parts. Further, because of the provision of a tiltable table pivotally mounted on the tower top, a revolvable table disposed above the tiltable table and a gun platform carried on the revolvable table, in most cases where it is impossible to position the tower top close to and at right angles to a glass wall of a high-storied building, one or both of the tiltable and revolvable tables may be suitably operated to adjust the direction of the gun platform so as to be at right angles to the surface to be broken, whereupon the breaking spear may be shot at right angles thereto to provide a powerful mechanical smashing blow. That is whereas making an oblique dash would be required to be repeated several times because of possible failures to break, a single shot is enough to break the wall in the present case. Further, because of the arrangement enabling the tiltable table, revolvable table, shooting resilient force imparting and breaking spear retracting means and breaking spear retaining means to be remotely controlled from the vehicle, the operation by the operator is carried out from a safe place on the vehicle on the ground. Further, the gun platform together with the tower top may be stuck out into the room through an open window opening or the resulting break hole by tower movement and may then be remotely controlled so as to be at right angles to the ceiling or floor, whereupon the latter may be broken for the purpose of spraying water into the upstairs or downstairs for fire fighting. Further, the tower top may be brought above the roof with the gun platform directed at right angles thereto for the above purpose. Further, since the tiltable table is pivotally mounted on the lateral surface of the tower top at about half the length of the gun platform and the revolvable table carrying the gun platform is mounted thereon, the gun platform will not stick out a great distance from the upper surface and front end of the tower when the gun platform is positioned parallel to the tower top. Further, other structural parts are assembled to the tower top in such a manner as to reduce the bulk, so that there is no interference with the workability of the tower top, and the vehicle height with the tower folded or prostrated onto the vehicle does not become unduly great. Further, since the breaking spear, shooting spring, etc. are contained in the cylindrical gun platform and the spring compressing and breaking spear retracting hydraulic cylinder is received between the frames on the lower surface of the gun platform, these operative members can be safely protected so as not to cause damage or troubles during use. whiles there have been described herein what are at present considered preferred embodiments of the several features of the invention, it will be obvious to these skilled in the art that modifications and changes may be made without departing from the essence of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that the examplary embodiments thereof are illustrative and not restrictive of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and that all mofifications that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be included therein.

1 claim:

1. Breaking apparatus for mounting on the top portion of a mobile fire fighting unit for breaking a wall surface comprising table means, tiltable means operatively connected to said table means for mounting said table means to the top portion of the fire fighting unit in tiltable relationship therewith, a spring compression actuation breaking unit mounted on the top of said table means, said breaking unit comprising an elongated gun platform operatively connected to said table means in substantially horizontal relationship thereto, elongated breaking spear means mounted within said gun platform for axial movement therein, said spear means including a breaking head mounted exteriorly of said gun platform at one end thereof, spring actuation means interposed within said gun platform for ejecting the said breaking spear means axially outwardly from said gun platform, means to retain at least a portion of the spear means within the gun platform when in an ejected state, means for retracting said spear means after being ejected, first means remotely positioned for operating said spring actuating means to eject the breaking spear means axially outwardly and second refire fighting unit. 

1. Breaking apparatus for mounting on the top portion of a mobile fire fighting unit for breaking a wall surface comprising table means, tiltable means operatively connected to said table means for mounting said table means to the top portion of the fire fighting unit in tiltable relationship therewith, a spring compression actuation breaking unit mounted on the top of said table means, said breaking unit comprising an elongated gun platform operatively connected to said table means in substantially horizontal relationship thereto, elongated breaking spear means mounted within said gun platform for axial movement therein, said spear means including a breaking head mounted exteriorly of said gun platform at one end thereof, spring actuation means interposed within said gun platform for ejecting the said breaking spear means axially outwardly from said gun platform, means to retain at least a portion of the spear means within the gun platform when in an ejected state, means for retracting said spear means after being ejected, first means remotely positioned for operating said spring actuating means to eject the breaking spear means axially outwardly and second remote operating means for actuating the tilting of said table means whereby the gun platform and the spear breaking means will lie at substantially right angles to the surface to be broken.
 2. Breaking apparatus in accordance with claim 1, which further includes revolving means positioned between said table means and said elongated gun platform and means for operating said revolVing means to rotate said gun platform in a substantially horizontal direction with respect to the top portion of the mobile fire fighting unit. 